How do you repair a million dollar yacht with no side or back end?

Recovering a wrecked Volvo 65 from a remote reef in the Indian Ocean and shipping her over 5,000 miles to a yard tucked up against the foothills of the Italian Alps was an huge undertaking in itself.

But rebuilding this highly refined, weight conscious, 12.5-ton carbon-fiber race boat to within a few ounces of her original displacement in one third of the time that she was first constructed, was a truly daunting task.

But that’s how it goes in the world of high-end blue water sail racing.